NIA did not oppose terror accused Sadhvi Pragya’s bail plea, left it to court’s discretion

The National Investigation Agency (NIA)on Monday did not oppose the bail plea of Malegaon terror accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and left the decision at the discretion of the court.

ANI report said that this came up during the hearing in a special court in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Wahab Khan, the lawyer representing one of the blast victims, filed an application in the court on Monday to become intervener in this case.

The court has sought replies from the accused and the NIA Khan’s application.

The special NIA court also rejected the bail plea of four accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case. Those whose bail pleas were rejected were Manohar Nawaria, Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh and Lokesh Sharma.

Pragya’s lawyer Prashant Maggu had on 30 May filed the bail plea after the NIA decided to drop her name from the list of accused in its chargesheet.

This was after the NIA, on 13 May, decided not to name Pragya in its charge-sheet in connection with the case. The agency also dropped charges against her under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

This came on the day several media reports suggested that the NIA, which falls under the central government, had decided to water down the Malegaon blasts case by dropping serious charges of terror against individuals associated with what came to be known as ‘Hindutva Terror.’

Sadhvi Pragya, a former ABVP leader and key accused in the Malegaon blasts.

The NIA chargesheet, instead, blamed the former Maharashtra ATS chief, Hemant Karkare, for carrying out flawed investigations. The NIA, according to Indian Express, will even go to the extent of accusing Karkare, who died in 26/11 terror attacks, of fabricating evidence against Colonel Prasad Purohit, another key accused and recording witness statements under duress.

The NIA’s decision caused widespread condemnation as social media users launched stinging attack against the BJP-led central government for dishonouring a national hero.

The NIA’s significan U-turn on Malegaon blasts case, which had killed four people and injured 79 others in September 2008, came after the special public prosecutor, Rohini Salian, last year alleged that she was asked to go soft against the accused such as Sadhvi and Purohit after the Narendra Modi government assumed power in May 2014.